On Netflix’s C"ulinary Class Wars 2", newly crowned champion Chef Choi Kang-rok says the toughest round of the whole season was the team battle.
At a winner’s interview held on the afternoon of the 16th in Seoul’s Samcheong-dong, Choi laughed about his Episode 1 entrance as the show’s “Hidden White Spoon” twist. “If I’d known they were going to stage it like that, I might’ve hesitated,” he joked. “Once I got up there, I just wanted to get down―but they put me so high I couldn’t even jump.”
Reflecting on his mindset returning one year after an early Season 1 exit, he said, “A lot of people around me want to go on 'Culinary Class Wars.' Coming back after competing once already, I felt a real sense of responsibility. I didn’t know how far I’d make it, but I wanted to climb as high as possible before heading home.”
Choi picked the team challenge as the most grueling mission―also the format that ended his run in Season 1. “Coming back, I told myself there was no way I was going out in the first round. And for the team battle, my mindset was, ‘We’re winning this.’ For me, that was the real finale. If we cleared that, I’d worry about the rest later. It stretched across three rounds, with different chefs taking the lead each time, but everything had to connect seamlessly. It was thrilling and exhausting. I went straight home and passed out afterward―it wiped me out.”
One moment showed just how keyed up he was. Producer Kim Eun-ji shared, “In the first 7-on-7 black-and-white team round, Chef Choi suddenly told the crew, ‘I can’t see Monk Seonjae!’ Monk Seonjae was actually set for the second round and was watching from the balcony, but Chef Choi was so nervous he thought they were cooking together,” she said with a laugh.
Looking a little sheepish, Choi added, “Competition is always nerve-racking and tough… Yeah, it was the same here.”
"MasterChef Korea Season 2" winner returned to "Culinary Class Wars" after his early Season 1 exit and ultimately took the crown with a soulful broth built around delicate sesame tofu.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)